1. Mississippi Natural Products Association Profiting From Weeds Joe Buzhardt Program Director / Research Scientist Specialty Mushroom Program Mississippi Small Farm Development Center At Alcorn State University Converting Waste or Underutilized Biomass into Profits for Farmers

2. A Farmers Cooperative  New Generation Value Added Cooperative Venture  Build a Natural Products Industry to Benefit Small Farm Development  Commercialize Technology from University Research  Medicinal Plant Garden - UM  Mississippi Small Farm Development Center - ASU

3. Specialty Mushrooms Using a Southeastern “Weed” as a Profitable Biomass

4. Did You Know That…  Europeans eat 9 pounds  Americans eat less than half that much  Potatoes, Tomatoes, Lettuce and… Mushrooms The Leading Vegetables in Terms of Farm Cash Receipts are Annual Per Capita Mushroom Consumption is

5. Shiitake, The World’s Most Popular Specialty Mushroom n Growing demand for specialty mushrooms in the United States n Total sales were $37.7 million in 2003 n Shiitake mushroom is the most demanded n Oyster mushroom is next n Others - Maitake, Enoki, Lion’s Mane, Wood Ear and Reishi

6. Two Production Methods

7. Growing Shiitake Outside – Seasonal Or Forced Fruiting

8. Inoculation

9. Production Yard

10. Mycelium Growing Inside Log

11. The Crop

12. Sawdust Substrate Production – Growing Room Only Convert Barn Shed Greenhouse Build Growing Room

13. Growing Room Layout Using Sawdust Substrate To Produce Mushrooms

14. Modular Growing Room

15. Making Sawdust Substrate Blocks Produced by the MNPA

16. Converting Sawdust Into Mushrooms

17. Mixing The Substrate Ribbon Mixer

18. Substrate Sterilization Steam

19. Substrate Inoculation Clean Room

20. Substrate Incubation Curing

21. Induction

22. Growing Room- MNPA and Farmers

23. Spent Blocks Converted to Mulch

24. Maximizing Waste Biomass… To Produce Profits for Farmers Joe Buzhardt Program Director / Research Scientist Specialty Mushroom Program Mississippi Small Farm Development Center At Alcorn State University

25. Contact Information Joe Buzhardt Specialty Mushroom Program Director Mississippi Small Farm Development Center Research and Extension Complex, Suite 110A Alcorn State University Alcorn State, MS 39096-9402 Campus Phone: 601.877.6449 Farm Phone: 601.852.4217 Email: joebuz@netdoor.com